Whipped
Whipped
She glanced to her side. Minho was sound asleep, lying on his stomach while his face was turned her way. His one hand was wrapped around her waist while the other one hung towards the ground. Seeing him sleeping so peacefully made her heart flutter. Last night felt like a dream and yet, she knew it was real thanks to the red marks covering his body. She looked down and to her surprise, she was wearing his shirt and both of them were wrapped tightly in one blanket. He must have dressed her up after she dozed off to protect her from the cold.
Making sure that he was completely asleep, Gayoon pecked him on the lips. He stirred a little but kept on sleeping. Loosening herself from his grip, she tried to get up but her body was quite sore. It was a little painful but bearable. Gayoon sighed, cursing herself for not being able to control their activities last night. She knew she would be in pain the next morning and yet, she continued to let him make love to her almost all night.
Somehow dragging herself up, she reached over to the bedside desk where her purse lay. Taking out some morning pills, she popped them in her mouth and pushed the blanket off her when she noticed something on Minho's back.
"What's this?" she muttered. She had only seen his front part whenever he was shirtless so she never noticed the faint white marks on his backside. The lines looked like old scars which were fading but were still there. To her shock, there were not one or two but quite a few white scars on his back as if someone had once whipped his repeatedly.
Before she could examine them any further, he shifted and rolled over on his back. Gayoon bit her lip, wondering whether to ask him or not but he was sleeping so soundly that she decided to question him later on this. She slowly got off the bed and headed for the bathroom to freshen up. By the time she was done, he was still sleeping so Gayoon went downstairs to prepare breakfast.
As soon as she was gone, Minho was frowning in his sleep.
"No…" he mumbled. He was lost in a distressing nightmare which was plaguing his mind. The sound of the whips echoed in his ears. A couple of men stood above the ten year old boy who was cowering in fear at their sight. The two men wore matching uniform with black coat and held the whips in their hands.
"Bad children need to be punished," one of the men chanted. He raised his whip and struck the boy whose bare back was exposed to them. The boy screamed, his lungs felt like they were about to explode but no one was listening.
"Please…" he whimpered. "I only wanted to hear my sister's voice! I only made one phone call!"
SWOOSH!
The whip hit him again, making him scream in agony.
"Making phone calls is prohibited in this school," one of the men spoke. His cold voice made the boy shudder in fear. Tears rolled down his cheeks and he could only pray for the nightmare to end. His cries were falling on deaf ears and no one was going to save him. He was all alone in that place.
"No…" Minho murmurer in his sleep, tossing and turning. "NO!"
He woke up with a start, panting for breath. The memories he had long forgotten were beginning to come back. Ever since he came back from the World of the Dead, some of his past trauma were beginning to pop up in his mind. He thought that he had left behind that chapter in his life for good but he was wrong. It was something he could never erase.
"Minho?" Gayoon came rushing into the room upon hearing Minho's scream. She looked worried at his state.
"What happened?" she asked softly. Minho was trying to catch his breath unsure of what had happened. Gayoon gently stroked his cheek and made him face her.
"Did you see a nightmare?" she asked. "What did you see?"
"Something I thought I'd have forgotten," he admitted. He ran a finger through his hair.
"Tell me about it," she coaxed. She inched closer to him hug his torso. He welcomed her embrace and let her settle in his arms before laying with her on the bed. His eyes were on the snow covered ceiling as he opened up another facet of his past.
"After my mom's murder, Mina was sent to live with Kanji's family while I was sent to boarding school," he said. "The school I went to was supposedly the best private school in the country. But inside the luxurious walls was a cage. Everyone there had to abide by strict rules and breaking any of them would result in corporal punishment."
"What?" Gayoon exclaimed, slightly lifting her head to stare at him. "That's illegal!"
"They hid their activities well," Minho said. "I was their prime target. The son of a murderer. In their eyes, I was the sinful one and most of their punishments were inflicted on me. Every night, I was thrown into the dark cellar after being whipped by the head teachers for defying their orders. One night, I had dared to call the Jang residence in order to hear Mina's voice. But I was caught and whipped so badly, that I had to be hospitalized."
"Those scars," Gayoon realized. "The ones on your back…those are from the abuse!"
Minho merely nodded. "Once I was hospitalized, the doctors tipped off the Jang's. They were horrified to see the treatment I received. Since the school had a no phone policy, they had no idea what was happening inside the walls. Kanji's father, Uncle Jason, had the whole school shut down and Lawyer Lee took us in. I was freed from that place but the memories remained."
Gayoon hugged him even tighter, unwilling to leave him. Minho spoke of that in a nonchalant way but she knew that he was still affected by it. She wanted to let him know that she was there for him and that he had people who loved him.
"You're much braver than I thought, Mr. Money Lover," Gayoon said in an attempt to lighten up the atmosphere.
"I don't think about all that," Minho sighed. "I just want to earn lots of money and live peacefully with my family. Things like that is in the past. If there's one thing I learnt at the World of the Dead is that life is too valuable to fret over regrets. All we can do is be true to ourselves and remember all the people who love us whether they're with us or not."
Gayoon smiled and got up. "Come on now," she said. "Freshen up and come down for breakfast."